Two Great Northwest Wineries Blazing New Winemaking Trails

As this website has evolved over the past year I've zeroed in on curating exceptional wines rather than broadcasting endless reviews of whatever shows up on my porch. I want the time you spend here to be valuable. Finding really good wines out of the vast numbers of OK wines is a time-consuming activity. Unless you are in the wine business in some way it's almost impossible. I enjoy tasting and writing about wine and I'm happy to devote almost full-time hours to the task. In these weekly posts you find the distillation of all the tastings and research I've done – in other words, just the good stuff.

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This week's Deep Dive is focused on two wineries that in very different ways are blazing new winemaking trails. Rocky Pond has single-handedly created and verified an entirely new AVA – Rocky Reach – here in Washington state. These are among the very finest wines I've tasted in the past year.

Authentique is the project of Nicholas Keeler, located on a lush and beautiful estate near the town of Amity, Oregon. Keeler works his magic via an impressive knowledge of varied fermentation vehicles and blending practices, which he explains in the essay below.

Rocky Pond

When I discovered this new winery and AVA last spring I was instantly transported by the feeling that here was indeed a very special place to grow grapes.

As I wrote on this website last June:  More than a few winemakers have told me over the years that the best places to grow grapes in Washington are yet to be discovered. That's not completely true – some great places have already been found. But with climate change impacting virtually all West Coast vintners, the qualities that define "best places" are evolving. And the winemaking is evolving with them. Wines are getting more subtle, more aromatic, less obviously fruity and more complex. These early releases from Rocky Pond express all of those characteristics.

Rocky Pond President John Ware spent two decades at Quilceda Creek before joining Rocky Pond. I was curious to find out what had attracted him to this new, unproven winery and vineyard. His answer:

"The Rocky Reach AVA has a geological story dating back 100,000,000-70,000,00 years when islands in the Pacific were thrust under Washington and thrust up into this 32,333 acres called Rocky Reach. Then 18,500-16,000 years ago, two glaciers carved out the Columbia River, depositing sandy soils and the prolific cobblestones. We do not have any basalt like most of Washington, and in fact, are higher in silica and quartz minerals. So what does that all mean for wine drinkers? We have a distinct minerality that is fused with ripe fruit that expresses itself in the wines. Double D and Rocky Reach Estate are warm sites. The stony surfaces and cobblestones quickly warm and heat the vines and promote faster and more complete ripening. The coarser soils are more efficient in transmitting water [meaning they hold less] which encourages the vines to establish deeper roots than vines planted in silty soils."

PG:  Of course the proof is in the pudding and my initial enthusiasm has been amplified and confirmed by subsequent tastings and a visit to the winery last summer. The newest releases are stunning wines from a more difficult vintage. Shane Collins, who made these new releases, now manages the estate vineyards in his current role as Director of Viticulture and Vineyard Relations. He's found that a lot of the vines, especially the older plantings going back to 2013, are very hard to get good vigor on. "Very sandy and cobblestone soils provide little water holding in the soil," he explains, "so we have learned a lot about proper balance for these vines. They will naturally hold less crop load than other locations that have previously had apples, pears, and cherries.

"What I thought we could accomplish for crop load and quality is certainly different than what I thought in 2017 when I came on board with Rocky Pond. We have changed our thinking on strategy for water management down to individual lines and sub-sections of the blocks by adding additional emitters and being able to turn the water on and off in very specific areas.

"I want to maximize the expression of the tannins and the tension of the wine while not having them express too lean or rigid. We focus on getting the plant to shut down as early as we can for any new growth on try to focus all the energy on fruit ripeness and phenolic development as the daylight becomes shorter later in the year, especially late September and October."

PG:  The winemaking reins have been handed over to Liz Keyser, who moved up from Napa a year ago. I asked her to comment on her experiences in a new wine region this first year.

LK:  "This growing season was a lesson in patience. The slow and cool start to the growing season set us on a path of being 1-2 weeks behind historic phenology data and meant most of our fruit was going to be harvested in a very tight window. There were many sleepless nights in early-October spent poring over weather reports and debating early picks, but ultimately I trusted that we could push hang time and the grapes would be able to bounce back from light rain, or even a frost event. We started harvesting red fruit on October 19th and were all in by November 9th (90+ tons in approx. 3-weeks). We have an incredible vineyard and cellar team who worked at a grueling pace to accomplish this harvest.

"A major strength of the Rocky Reach AVA made apparent to me this growing season is the ability to achieve even ripening across the spectrum of varieties grown at Double D and Rocky Reach Estate vineyards, even in a challenging vintage. I attribute the balanced and even ripening to the low elevation and sandy-rocky soils that radiate heat into the canopy. Being able to hold onto heat into the evening hours really helped to push ripening along. I am continually impressed by the wines produced from our vineyards in the Rocky Reach AVA. For young vines the fruit exudes so much character and sense of place.

"Overall, downsizing from the 150k+ case production [in Napa] has allowed me to reconnect with the entire winemaking process and it’s been a challenging, inspiring, and gratifying year. The first wines of the 2022 vintage will be released in Spring 2023, featuring the 2022 Stratastone Rosé and 2022 Double D Sauvignon Blanc. The 2022 vintage will be labeled with Rocky Reach AVA designation (where applicable) and Sustainable WA certification.”

As Liz notes these current releases still carry the broad Columbia Valley AVA designation rather than the newly-minted Rocky Reach AVA because TTB approval came just after these wines had already been bottled. "In subsequent vintages" President John Ware confirms, "you will see the Rocky Reach AVA designation from wines produced from the Double D and Rocky Reach vineyard sites, as well as the new 'Sustainable WA' certification."

Purchase Rocky Pond wines here

Rocky Pond 2021 Tumbled Granite White

This Viognier/Roussanne blend saw 45% new French oak prior to bottling. It's racy and focused, still rather tight with prickly citrus skin, cucumber and cactus flavors. The freshness is appealing and leads me to suggest that this be enjoyed over the next couple of years. One minor quibble – the front labels on the two Tumbled Granite wines are identical, and the dark glass makes it difficult to tell white from red. 150 cases; 14.1%; $60 (Columbia Valley)

Rocky Pond 2020 Double D Vineyard Malbec

This is pure Malbec and a textbook example of this done as a varietal wine. Blueberries galore in the nose, accented with pretty barrel toast (44% new for 22 months). Malbec initially plays out across the palate horizontally and then sets up with precision, lighter in mouthfeel than most Washington Merlots and less tannically potent than Cabernets. Nonetheless it's got length and strength and its own pleasures, a mix of berry and coffee, chicory and grain. 300 cases; 15%; $60 (Columbia Valley)

Rocky Pond 2020 Double D Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon

This is 77% Cabernet; also in the blend are Merlot (18% and Syrah (5%), all from the flagship estate vineyard. This is dark and supple, toasty and firm, with taut black fruits, polished but chewy tannins and a frame of new French oak. Hints of gravel and graphite penetrate the finish and amplify the astringency of the tannins. Clearly at the start of a long life, it's structured like many of Washington's finest Cabernets from Red Mountain and the Horse Heaven Hills. 256 cases; 14.8%; $75 (Columbia Valley)

Rocky Pond 2020 Tumbled Granite Red

This is 75% Cabernet, 20% Merlot and 5% Syrah, all from the flagship estate vineyard. Compare with the 2020 Cabernet Sauvignon and the stats are almost identical, so this must be a reserve-level selection from all new barrels. With all that new oak it's loaded with baking spices, thus giving it immediate appeal despite its long term aging potential. The dark fruits are typical from the Double D vineyard, and line up taut and polished alongside sharp, polished and balancing tannins. This is a beautifully made wine which should be cellared for at least a few more years and could go into the mid-2030s. Very limited. 90 cases; 15%; $120 (Columbia Valley)

Rocky Pond 2020 Double D Vineyard Stratastone Red

This popular Rhône-style blend is 46% Grenache, 28% Syrah and 26% Mourvèdre (almost doubled from the previous vintage). Gorgeously scented with a plush mix of brambly red and purple berries, lavender and white chocolate, it's fresh, forward and fruit-driven; in other words absolutely irresistible. Those who purchased the previous vintage will be pleased to know the price is virtually unchanged. As this vineyard continues to grow and mature we can only expect more magnificent wines will follow. 436 cases; 14.8%; $46 (Columbia Valley)

Rocky Pond 2020 Double D Vineyard 11 Dams Red

One of a pair of outstanding entry-level blends from Rocky Pond, this is 54% Merlot, 29% Cabernet Sauvignon and 17% Malbec sourced from the estate vineyard. It's all Rocky Reach AVA but the winery is going with the more generic Columbia Valley designation. An unusual blend, this deftly amps up the power of the principal Merlot component while keeping the strength and detail of the other two grapes in focus. It's a fruit showcase loaded with black cherries and cassis, backed with the AVA's underlying minerality. The generous use of new French oak (50%) is kept in check while framing the wine perfectly. Given its youth this absolutely must be decanted for near term drinking, or cellared for another couple of years. Still drinking very well on the 4th day. 550 cases; 14.8%; $46 (Columbia Valley)

Authentique

The winery's Keeler estate vineyard (just outside of Amity) is a Demeter-certified biodynamic site on a southwest facing hillside. The shallow and diverse sedimentary soils were once part of an ancient ocean bed.

Winemaker Nicholas Keeler employs a fascinating array of fermentation vessels including rotary large format, upright oak; stainless steel tanks; Italian amphorae and concrete eggs, sometimes mixing multiple styles in a single bottling. He has represented Allary barrels in the U.S. and along the way acquired a great deal of knowledge of French forests, barrel production and the impact of specific barrel choices on finished wines.

"My aim is to make unique wines with layers of nuance and detail" he says. "Wines fermented in different vessels are barreled down separately. This gives me a wider range of color, texture and flavor for the alchemy at the blending table. For example in my Pinot Noir oak is used for texture and color; concrete ovals for an anaerobic environment, texture and longer time on the skins; stainless for precise temperature control, respect for the vineyard/fruit character and a brighter mouthfeel. My hope is to get more detail in the wines, and for the wines to be ageworthy and captivate interest as they evolve in cellar and glass.

"I also enjoy the gentle extraction texture and carbonic aspect of the rotary 500 and 600 liter barrels. In my experience the Italian amphorae lends a unique color, highlights mineral/ceramic elements and produces a round texture during fermentation and aging. Lately I’ve been fermenting a personal favorite 115 clone block from Keeler estate to get orange peel , cherry and white pepper characters in amphorae; then aging in our medium+ all fire toast Allary Diamant Fontainebleau. It's a wonderfully complex wine that’s normally blended in the Authentique Keeler estate designate Pinot Noir."

PG:  Authentique wines are released a year or two after most Oregon Pinots, which is very helpful given the somewhat reductive winemaking. As with all the wines I taste, these Authentique releases have been re-examined over several days.

Purchase all Authentique wines here

Authentique 2020 Bremen Town Riesling

Fermented in concrete egg and then aged in neutral oak, this shows the sort of experimentation happening with Riesling among its advocates in Oregon. It's aromatic and dry – in fact for some palates it will taste sour – like a squirt of fresh lemon juice. The time in concrete egg adds texture and a baseline minerality, extending the finish. This would be an ideal match for shellfish, crustaceans or poultry in a lemon sauce. 75 cases; 12%; $50 (Eola-Amity Hills)

Authentique 2019 Bois Joli Chardonnay

Sappy and seductive, this layers tart lemony acids under crisp apple, Asian pear, grapefruit and a thin seam of banana cream. The complexity and clever melding of disparate components is impressive. This should be decanted or aged another 2-5 years. Nicholas Keeler notes these are Dijon clones that were fermented spontaneously in 30% new extra tight Vosges oak barrels, then aged sur lie for 16 months. 75 cases; 13%; $60 (Eola-Amity Hills)

Authentique 2019 Fond Marin Chardonnay

This barrel selection includes grapes from Bois Joli and Keeler vineyards. At first it is sharp, almost severe, and drinks younger than its vintage. It's steely and tight, with close-wound, mineral-drenched flavors of lemon rind, lemongrass, apple skin and dried Italian herbs. If past is preview (I thought when first tasting it) this will respond well to aeration and further bottle age. Sure enough this opened up and drank far better on day three than on day one. 200 cases; 13%; $60 (Eola-Amity Hills)

Authentique 2019 The Corridor Pinot Noir

The Corridor bottling gets essentially the same care as the more expensive Pinots from Authentique. Spontaneous (wild yeast) fermentation of whole berries with a small percentage of whole clusters amps up the details and textures of this wine. Savory overtones complement the brambly berry fruit. The new oak is subtle and effective. Intended to be more approachable early than its companions, it's pleasingly full and nicely textured. Should drink well through the rest of the decade. 200 cases; 13%; $42 (Eola-Amity Hills)

Authentique 2019 Keeler Estate Vineyard Pinot Noir

As noted above the regimen includes spontaneous fermentation in rotary oak puncheons, demi-muid, upright oak, amphorae and stainless tanks. This is followed by 16 months in 40% new oak with light bâtonnage. The payoff is a wine with varied textures, layered like sedimentary rock, and somewhat muted flavors of berries, mint, sage, soil and seashell. I strongly recommend decanting this wine in order to help the flavors unpack. Best drinking should be after 2026. 300 cases; 13%; $60 (Eola-Amity Hills)

Authentique 2019 Wind Ridge Vineyard Pinot Noir

The fruit comes from Harry and Wynne Peterson-Nedry's vineyard atop Ribbon Ridge. It has that AVA's typical seashell aromatic highlights, which continue through the palate, adding elegant textures and flavor dimensions. All the 2019s from Authentique are done in a style that keeps the alcohol down and emphasizes texture, balance and ageability. This is built to age and should appeal to those who favor the mix of steely fruit, acid and mineral over a more effusive berry-driven style. 150 cases; 13.2%; $75 (Ribbon Ridge)

Authentique 2019 Murto Vineyard Pinot Noir

Own-rooted Pommard from old vines is the story here. Fermented in stainless to emphasize aromatics and precision, this was aged in 30% new oak with a slightly higher toast level than its companion Pinots. The toast is subtle but a bit more apparent than in the others and adds a layer of chocolatey nougat to the tight, tart berry fruit. This borders on being reductive and needs aeration; if possible give it another couple years of bottle age. My second and third day tastings confirm that with time a truly complex and detailed wine will emerge. Drink 2025 - 2035. 150 cases; 13.1%; $75 (Dundee Hills)

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WINERIES:  The wines you submit are tasted over many hours and days in peer groups.

NEW:  Scores for posted reviews are available by request. (Please indicate if you want all notes or just the published notes.)

Only reviews for recommended wines are published, with links to winery websites to facilitate DTC sales. Additional exposure comes via my posts on Substack, postalley.com, Instagram and various Facebook wine chat groups.

Please send current and upcoming releases according to your own schedule (check with me first re: weather/travel exceptions). All new releases from Pacific Northwest wineries are welcome and will be tasted. Please direct Questions/Comments to paulgwine@me.com. 

Thank you for your support! – Paul Gregutt

Can American Wineries Do Justice To Italian Varieties?

It was in the mid-1980s that the Antinori family of Tuscany began farming a 1200 acre site on Atlas Peak. The buzz back then was that they would feature Sangiovese, completing the circle that had brought so many Italian immigrants to the Napa Valley at the beginning of the 20th century. Rapid changes in partnerships, plans and plantings ultimately led to the establishment of their Antica winery in 1994, followed by the release of the first Antica wines in 2007 – a Cabernet Sauvignon and a Chardonnay!?! Today very little Sangiovese is grown and the project remains focused on classic Napa Valley varieties and Bordeaux blends.

In 1995 a second Antinori New World project was initiated, this time in partnership with Washington's Ste. Michelle Wine Estates. The Col Solare winery and vineyard was perched atop Red Mountain, and if memory serves it was initially aiming to make a SuperTuscan style blend. It too has evolved almost entirely in the direction of Cabernet Sauvignon/Merlot blends, with just a bit of Syrah as well. Not an Italian varietal in sight. One wonders... if the Antinoris can't succeed with Sangiovese in America, who can?

With rare exceptions the classic Italian varietal wines and blends such as Chianti and Barolo have not been successfully replicated or emulated here in the U.S. Nebbiolo? Other than my recent tasting of Saviah's outstanding 2019 Dugger Creek Vineyard bottling, nothing else has come close. Sangiovese? Usually a pleasant but undistinguished generic red. Barbera? I've had a handful from southern Oregon that made my tongue stand at attention:  a Remotion 2018 Celestina Vineyard; a DanCin 2018 Sorella; and again a Dugger Creek 2020 Barbera from Saviah that was outstanding. But these are lonely exceptions in a landscape littered with nice tries.

One small under-the-radar winery has changed the picture for me, and convinced me that there are many more Italian grapes that can make brilliant wines in America if they are planted in the right place. And apparently that place – or at least one of them – is the Chicago Park sub-region in the western Sierra Foothills AVA.

Montoliva Vineyard & Winery is the project of grower/winemaker Mark Henry, a Northwest native who memorably admits "I have a tough time seeing myself as a winemaker... making wine is not my love. I love farming." It's in the vineyard, he believes, where the magic occurs.

“Making wine terrifies me to no end,” he concedes. “I don’t really understand a lot of what is happening, on a chemistry level. If things go south I don’t have the tools or knowledge to fix it. If I’ve done everything that I possibly can out in the vineyard to produce the best quality fruit I can then the best approach in the winery is to inoculate, ferment, extend maceration, press, barrel, SO2 it, and then leave it the hell alone!”

Montoliva began as a vineyard – no winery – in 2000. Two years later Henry traveled to Montalcino, home of the famous Brunello wines, where he rented the converted barn at La Crociona and "made a pest of myself for a couple of weeks." While there winemaker Roberto Nannetti tutored him on the nuts and bolts of extended macerations, which may play an important role in the differences between ‘New World’ and ‘Old World’ wines.

Henry shares my thinking about those early attempts at "Cal-Ital" wines. "I don’t want to rag on anyone but look, all that ‘Cal-Ital’ in the late 90s was simply people thinking they were going to create the next Brunello by working with Italian varietals, but still using the approaches they were using with California Cab/Merlot/Chardonnay. All they ended up doing was creating over-priced Cab lite. You can’t work with Sangiovese or Aglianico and make anything worth drinking if you farm it to over- ripe, over-extract it, hit it with heavy oak, and then sterile filter it.”

Chicago Park is an agricultural community southeast of Grass Valley on the western slopes of the Sierra Foothills. Henry's research convinced him that its geology was similar to Italy and the elevation (over 2000 feet) seemed to suit the Italian varieties he wanted to grow. Into the ground went small plots of Negroamaro, Aglianico, Sangiovese (four clones), Primitivo, Montepulciano, Teroldego, Aleatico and Canaiolo Nero.

A second site (Wabash Avenue Vineyard), first planted in 2015, grows Falanghina, Vermentino, Nero d'Avola, Dolcetto, Teroldego and Aglianico. That seems like a lot of virtually unknown grapes to manage, and Henry sees both plusses and minuses. “It has been a learning curve. The upside to growing varietals that nobody else does is who is going to tell you you’re doing it wrong? The downside is that there is nobody to ask when you have a question. You just have to figure it out for yourself."

When I first tasted some samples from Montoliva I had zero knowledge of the wines, the winery, the winemaker or the vineyards. No presuppositions whatsoever. I was so utterly captivated that I asked to taste more of the entire portfolio. Vavavoom. The second series of wines were even better.

Montoliva fits neatly into the overriding mission of this website. I want to turn you on to lesser known wines, wineries and places. I want to feature small production wines that can charm and inspire, no matter how jaded your palate may be. And if they also happen to be exceptional values – as these wines certainly are – well that's the whole package. Here's a rundown of current releases. All are highly recommended.

Montoliva 2021 Viani Vineyard Falanghina

A Mediterranean white wine grape, this is a deep gold, relatively light in alcohol, and uniquely flavorful, with a palate-tickling yeasty character. Pollen, beeswax and hints of honeycomb are there to greet you, leading into a subtle palate with more of those flavors around light yellow fruits. This is a consummate sipping wine, and a most interesting escape from all the usual white wine suspects. 145 cases; 12.8%; $25 (Sierra Foothills)

Montoliva 2019 Nero d'Avola

This southern Italian stalwart gets a good showing here. It's sappy and rich, loaded with blueberry, blackberry and black cherry fruit. There's just enough ripeness to put a touch of pastry on the fruit flavors, and (guessing here) some time in a bit of new wood has added a pleasing toasty popcorn note. 139 cases; 13.9%; $35 (Sierra Foothills)

Montoliva 2018 Teroldego

Grown in Italy's north, this is a rustic, rough and tannic grape which combines its tannins, acids and chewy black fruits in a potent package. It's close to Tannat in flavor and style, nothing subtle here but an interesting wine that should match well with smoky barbequed meats. 139 cases; 14.1%; $35 (Sierra Foothills)

Montoliva 2019 Dolcetto

A surge of licorice runs like a rail through this potent Dolcetto. It's loaded with ripe blackberries, brambly underbrush, and a thread of smoked tea leaves and tobacco. The tannins add grip and power to a lingering finish. This is flat out exceptional in every way. 120 cases; 13.7%; $35 (Sierra Foothills – Chicago Park)

Montoliva 2018 Primitivo

Whether or not you conflate this with Zinfandel, it shares the same burst of raspberry fruit, light pepper, moderate tannins and juicy acids. All this without hitting super high levels of alcohol. It's structured for aging over the rest of the decade but drinks perfectly well right now. 100 cases; 13.9%; $32 (Sierra Foothills – Chicago Park)

Montoliva 2020 Sierra Bella

Here is your go-to pizza wine. Set the table with your finest checkered tablecloth and pour a fruit-laden glass of this Sangiovese/Teroldego/Barbera/Primitivo blend. The same fruit as featured in the winery's varietal designates goes into this carafe-ready red, which brings a lush mix of strawberries, raspberries, plums and blackberries into focus. The tannins are perfectly balanced and lend some gravitas to the wine. 250 cases; 13.8%; $22 (Sierra Foothills – Chicago Park)

Montoliva 2017 Sinistra

The blend is two thirds Teroldego and one third Barbera. The power of the fruit is almost overwhelming – a mash-up of raspberries, blueberries, blackberries and black cherries. There are strong highlights of vanilla, tobacco and chocolate, and the tannins add texture and grip. As with the entire portfolio of Montoliva wines, the potent fruit flavors are front and center. These are succulent wines to enjoy immediately, yet fresh and balanced enough to see what further cellar time brings. 125 cases; 13.9%; $35 (Sierra Foothills)

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NOTE:  The wines I recommend have been tasted over many hours and days in peer groups and are selected for excellence. I have chosen to eliminate numerical scores from this website. Only recommended wines are shown, no negative reviews. My notes are posted with minimum delays and links to the winery website, so you may purchase recommended wines directly from the producer before they are sold out. I take no commission, accept no advertising, and charge no fees for wines reviewed.

Coming next week:  JJ Williams Talks Next-Gen Changes At Kiona

Please send current and upcoming releases when your schedule (and favorable weather) allows. All new releases from Pacific Northwest wineries are welcome and will be tasted. Right now I am especially interested in wines from Northwest winemakers who feel they have been slighted by the press. Maybe some of what you believe are your best wines have gotten blah scores? Maybe the slam & spit traveling reviewers flat out ignored you? Or maybe you just want an unbiassed look at a couple of current releases that you really believe are exceptional. Send me the wines with a note about why you've chosen them. Complete shipping information is on this website. Questions? Ask me at paulgwine@me.com. Results will be posted on a future 'Deep Dive'. 

Thank you for your support! – Paul Gregutt

Roaring '20's Revival Hits The Fizz Biz

A recent story in The Guardian sounded a double alarm for anyone hoping to celebrate the holidays with a bottle or two of Champagne.

According to this article the company that owns some of the most prestigious and wildly popular Champagne brands – Moët & Chandon, Veuve Clicquot, Krug and Dom Pérignon among them – has announced that they are running out of stock. Putting a positive spin on the news, they attribute the shortage to big spending by well-heeled consumers on a variety of luxury goods.  We are heading, they believe, into a new "Roaring '20's" era in which decadence and luxury go hand in hand.

Coming out of the Covid years is another part of this trend. Who among us does not feel like celebrating? But if you, like me, have fallen a bit short of being among those hundreds of thousands of ultra-high net worth individuals (defined by Credit Suisse as holding $50+ million in assets) you may find that bottle of Dom ($265) or Krug ($265) or Cristal ($350) or even good old reliable Clicquot ($98) is a bit out of reach.

What to do?

Of course there are many fizzy options at much lower prices. Prosecco remains popular, as does Spanish cava. But the first defining difference that separates most of the cheap fizz from the real deal is the term 'méthode champenoise'. Sparkling wines that do not have that phrase on the label have been made by much simpler and cheaper practices, principally charmat, which simply injects CO2 into the still wine. Wines that do adhere to the Champagne method have been re-fermented in the bottle (among other requirements). Some very good 'méthode champenoise' wines can be made from other grapes such as Riesling, but they are not exact substitutes for the real thing.

Which is the second defining difference – the composition of the blend. Though the French laws permit some obscure grapes such as Petit Meslier, Arbanne and Fromenteau to be grown and made in the Champagne region, the vast majority of Champagne that reaches this country is made from some combination of Chardonnay, Pinot Meunier and Pinot Noir.

So where in the U.S. can you find sparkling wines made that come very close to Champagne by employing the 'méthode champenoise' and using only those three Champagne grapes? And that go a step further by maintaining reserves so that basic non-vintage brut wines are built upon multiple harvests, while single vintage wines are made only in the best years and generally given extra time on the lees prior to being disgorged?

California and Oregon are the places that qualify best in my experience, though many if not most California sparkling wines fight to avoid excess fruitiness and over-ripe base wines. Which leads me to the Willamette Valley.

On the face of it, Oregon sparkling wine is a no-brainer. Cool climate grapes, with a focus on Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, are the meat and potatoes of Willamette Valley viticulture. Soils, though not Kimmeridgian chalk, do have some spots where ancient sea beds have risen to the surface. And one pioneering winery – Argyle – has been turning out highly-regarded bubbly for the past 35 years. 

Argyle began as a partnership between grower/vintner Cal Knudsen and Australia's Brian Croser. They went all-in with 15,000 cases the first year. Winemaker Rollin Soles set the standard immediately by using wild yeasts obtained from French Champagne house Bollinger. For at least a decade no sparkling wines from the Pacific Northwest could match Argyle's quality. That changed with the arrival of Tony Soter, who’d earned a reputation for excellence with his California brand, Etude.

Carefully-selected clones and low crop levels are paramount. Soter’s Brut Rosé, first produced in 1997 with purchased grapes, was his response to “too much forgettable [domestic] fizz in the market, which doesn’t leave you with any memory of flavor. Our ambition is to make a wine that's serious, maybe a little bold by world standards.”

“The challenge in California,” he explained to me a few years ago, “is the grapes get too sweet before they are perfectly ripe, driven by warm temps and sunshine. Here in Oregon the whole cycle is a month later, so there's a more subtle approach to maturity here that translates into more flavor at a given sugar. So in California you get a more lush flavor that's boozy - it tends to be a little hot, and sometimes the delicacy and typicity is compromised.”

Rollin Soles left Argyle over a decade ago to focus on sparkling and still wines at his Roco winery. He places great importance on the details of dosage trials. "There’s nothing more subtle, elegant and challenging than a dosage trial” he insists, adding "the méthode champenoise process is far more complex and challenging than simply making still wines."

The cost of equipment and the long timelines between picking the grapes and finally releasing the sparkling wines held Oregon's production in check until a decade ago when Andrew Davis founded the Radiant Sparkling Wine Company. He opened in 2013 after making wines with Soles at Argyle for a half dozen vintages. The goal was to provide both the expertise and the specialized equipment required for the efficient production of sparkling wines. “I'd seen the potential through Argyle,” Davis explained in a 2016 interview, “so why were there not more people doing it?” He concluded it was in large part a lack of the physical equipment specific to sparkling wine production. “It takes up a large footprint, it's expensive and very technical. I know a lot of people were daunted – it's one thing if you have a barrel of Pinot Gris or Pinot Noir that goes reductive or has a stuck fermentation; you can fix it. But thousands of individual bottles over multiple vintages are a different story.”

There are many dozens of Willamette Valley wineries making méthode champenoise wines now, most limited to a couple hundred cases. Domaine Serene is one of the few that has built a dedicated sparkling wine facility on the grounds of their Dundee Hills estate, and recently released a 2014 Récolte Grand Cru Blanc de Blanc to expand a lineup that already includes a brut, a brut rosé and a demi-sec.

As good as these Oregon sparklers are – and I've tasted most of them over the years – they are not inexpensive. Or at least they weren't until prices for French Champagne went through the roof. Now a lot of them are starting to look like bargains.

Here are my favorites from tastings I've done this year. Except as noted, these are still available for purchase online.

Recommended Oregon Sparklers

Argyle

Argyle 2018 Blanc de Noirs

Along with Pinot Noir the cuvée includes 20% Pinot Meunier, both sourced from the Spirit Hill vineyard. Argyle makes as many as a dozen different sparkling wines in a given year and has been the leader in Oregon bubbly since it was founded 35 years ago. This has a fine bead, sharp acids, a light hint of spice and plenty of crisp green apple flesh and skin. The balance is spot on, and it's a fine value among many more expensive Oregon offerings. 3983 cases; 12.5%; $30 (Willamette Valley)

https://shop.argylewinery.com/product/2018-Blanc-de-Noirs

Argyle 2011 Extended Tirage Brut

Argyle's long history allows the winery to age some wines en tirage for up to a decade prior to disgorgement. This is from a very cool year, which gave these grapes (60% Pinot Noir/40% Chardonnay) extra hang time. It's delicate and lightly honeyed, with hints of blonde raisins, toasted hazelnuts and lemon meringue. This is the sort of wine that may show best at room temperature rather than chilled in an ice bucket. 1530 cases; 12.5%; $85 (Willamette Valley)

https://shop.argylewinery.com/2011ExtendedTirageBrut

Cho

Cho 2017 Laurel Vineyard Brut Rosé

Sourced from a high elevation vineyard in this new AVA, this is a deliciously flavorful wine with touches of raspberry, cream and vanilla. The flavors are already showing excellent depth and persistence, suggesting that this wine will continue to evolve and perhaps even improve. It was just honored as a Top 100 wine of the year on the Wine Enthusiast website. I featured it on this website some months ago; now it is sold out. 40 cases; 12.5%; $65 (Laurelwood District)

Domaine Divio

Domaine Divio 2018 Vintage Brut Crémant

Crémant, as Divio's Bruno Corneaux notes on the back label, is the méthode champenoise technique used to produce sparkling wine in regions outside of Champagne. Here the Chardonnay and Pinot Noir grapes were sourced from the Hyland Vineyard, which he manages. This might also be labeled Brut Rosé as it is a pale rose color. The wine has a fine bead, constrained fruit flavors that touch on strawberry, rhubarb and watermelon, good length and a clean, crisply refreshing finish. 100 cases; 12.8%; $70 (Willamette Valley)

https://domainedivio.com/wine/2018-willamette-valley-cremant/

Flâneur

Flâneur 2018 Extra Brut

Reflecting the evolving sophistication of Willamette Valley méthode champenoise sparklers, this vintage dated blend includes 40% Chardonnay, 35% Pinot Noir and 25% Pinot Meunier from the winery's La Belle Promenade vineyard. The flavors are neatly meshed, lightly toasty, with green apple and fresh lemon fruit flavors holding down the core. It's clean and clear and should evolve well for a decade or longer. 374 cases; 12.5%; $65 (Chehalem Mountains)

https://shop.flaneurwines.com/product/2018-Extra-Brut

Left Coast

Left Coast 2015 Estate Blanc de Noir

This all Wadenswil clone Pinot Noir, method champenoise wine has some years under its cork but remains expressively fresh and vibrant. Spicy apple and Asian pear fruit shines brightly, along with zesty acids. It's the sort of clean, brisk bubbly that Oregon does especially well. Drink now and over the next decade or longer. Not available online. 80 cases; 12.5%; $55 (Van Duzer Corridor)

Pashey

Pashey 2018 Coast Range Estate Extra Brut Blanc de Blancs

This single vineyard, vintage-designated all-Chardonnay méthode champenoise wine has a fine bead and displays the elegance of a true blanc de blancs style of Champagne. Crisp, sculpted flavors of green apple, apple skin, jicama, white melon, lemon pith and rind bring layers of subtle detail. Drink from now and through the mid-2030s. 315 cases; 12.6%; $65 (Willamette Valley)

https://www.trisaetum.com/product/2018-Pashey-Blanc-de-Blancs-Coast-Range-Estate

Roco

Roco 2018 RMS Brut

The RMS cuvée brings exceptional ripe fruit to bear in a classy sparkling wine done in the classic Champagne method. It's 70% Pinot Noir and 30% Chardonnay with deep and delicious flavors that combine apple pie, pear tart, minerally acids and nuances too subtle to name. The depth, penetration and all out length will have you refilling your glass before you have finished swallowing the first sip. 200 cases; 12.5%; $65 (Willamette Valley)

https://shop.rocowinery.com/product/2018-RMS-Brut

Roco 2019 RMS Brut Rosé

This is 100% Pinot Noir from the practiced hand of Rollin Soles, who kicked off Oregon's sparkling wine industry at Argyle some 35 years ago. The flavors center around strawberry and cherry, with a yeasty base that adds hints of bread dough and pastry. The flavors linger and extend through the finish, which portends further development with some years in the bottle. 429 cases; 12.5%; $65 (Willamette Valley)

https://shop.rocowinery.com/product/2019-RMS-Brut-Rose

Soter

Soter 2015 Mineral Springs Blanc de Blancs

This vintage-dated wine spent almost six years on the lees before being disgorged in December 2021. It's spicy and aromatic, with a wintergreen note piercing through the citrus fruit. With a bit of breathing time the flavors expand and a broader fruit palate emerges. It remains brilliantly fresh, crisply defined, elegant and dense with a long life ahead. Drink now to 2035. 177 cases; 12.8%; $100 (Yamhill-Carlton)

https://purchase.sotervineyards.com/product/2015-Mineral-Springs-Blanc-de-Blancs

Soter 2018 Mineral Springs Brut Rosé

Winemaker Chris Fladwood and grower/owner Tony Soter have knocked it out of the park once again with this stunning vintage rosé. Pretty to look at, lovely to taste, it's bursting with strawberry and cherry highlights. Roughly four fifths Pinot Noir and one fifth Chardonnay, it was fermented in a mix of oak and (mostly) stainless and aged four years on the lees prior to disgorgement this past May. It's harmonious and inviting, with just the right touch of fruit in an elegant style. 1100 cases; 12.8%; $72 (Yamhill-Carlton)

https://purchase.sotervineyards.com/product/2018-Mineral-Springs-Brut-Rose 

Winter's Hill

Winter's Hill 2018 Sparkling Wine

The relatively high alcohol for a sparkling wine speaks to the ripeness of the grapes and the overall heat of the vintage. It makes for a more full and round palate, with lush citrus and apple flavors that hint at more tropical fruits. The blend is 50/50 estate grown Pinot Blanc and Pinot Noir. It's fresh and tangy, and I'd recommend drinking this bottle over the next five years. 40 cases; 13.5%; $55 (Dundee Hills)

https://wintershillwine.com/product/2018-sparkling-wine

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NOTE:  The wines I recommend have been tasted over many hours and days in peer groups and are selected for excellence. I have chosen to eliminate numerical scores from this website. Only recommended wines are shown, no negative reviews. My notes are posted immediately with links to the winery website, so you may purchase them directly from the producer before they are sold out. I take no commission, accept no advertising, and charge no fees for wines reviewed.

Coming next week:  American Wineries Take On The Challenge of Italian Grapes

Please send current and upcoming releases when your schedule (and favorable weather) allows. All new releases from Pacific Northwest wineries are welcome and will be tasted. California wineries please inquire before sending wines. Only recommended wines will be published on this website.

Please contact me at paulgwine@me.com with your feedback and suggestions for future posts. Thank you for your support! – Paul Gregutt

Saviah's Rich Funk Talks Wine and Football

So I'm sitting with Rich Funk at a grand table in the capacious event space adjoining Saviah's tasting room when I toss him a surprise question. We've been chatting about the three wines we are tasting – an estate Viognier, a Stillwater Creek Chardonnay and a Dugger Creek Barbera – all splendid by the way. Comparing philosophies and preferences on such things as the optimal brix for picking Viognier and the advantages of north-facing, high elevation vineyard sites. The usual wine geek speak.

"Let me ask you something" I interrupt, changing conversational horses in mid-stream. "Do you like football?" I am hoping for a yes, as I'd recently watched a most interesting piece on how young quarterbacks may take years to learn the intricacies of the position at the pro level, if they ever manage to learn at all. I found myself wondering if learning to make wine, and particularly wine as good as Rich makes, involves a similar start/stop, up/down winding path. In place of a season there's a vintage, in place of varied opponents there are different vineyards, in place of making schematic adjustments to defense and offense as the season progresses there are decisions about when to water, when to cluster thin, when to pick and so on as the weather does its thing.

I was in luck, and not only is he a Seahawk fan, but Rich quickly saw what I was driving at.

"When you're a young winemaker it comes down to personality" he noted. "I had the good fortune of knowing guys like Mike Januik, Charlie Hoppes and Myles Anderson who understood what it took to put good wine in the bottle. It's less about being artistic and more about developing good relationships with growers. Which is the same with learning to play quarterback – these things take time. One handshake at a time, one reception at a time, one perfect pass at a time. Geno [Smith - Seahawks quarterback] is just so poised in the pocket. That comes with time, working hard, picking yourself up and saying I'm gonna get better. In the wine business you try to find ways to improve every year whether it's canopy management, crop load adjustment, doing the right thing at the right time. You have to live it. What I love the most now is that I've lived through so many mistakes but I never let them hold me back."

I got the message, understated though it was, that there was in fact a very steep learning curve to becoming a winemaker. Funk confessed that back in the early 2000s he'd come very close to buying a site for his proposed winery in a seemingly more hospitable location. For the first five years he wasn't entirely sure he'd made the right decision. The location today, at the far south end of Walla Walla county, just north of Stateline Road, across from Pepper Bridge, is well populated with neighbors such as Sleight of Hand, Canvasback, Va Piano and many more. But 20 years ago none of them were there and Pepper Bridge didn't even have a tasting room.

That may have been the least of his challenges.

"I've been farming this ground for 20 years" he continued. "For the first 10 I didn't have the resources and equipment to farm it the way I needed to. There's so many things against us here – the winery is on the valley floor, we have multiple homes all around us, all with different lawn care regimes, and it's cool. We don't freeze down here in the fall but... we can get nailed in April with spring frost at budbreak This is like Siberia down here on the valley floor" he grins, only half kidding. "There's nothing easy about this, no matter what hat you're wearing."

Saviah is a family affair, as detailed on the website:  "Winemaker Richard Funk and his wife, Anita, both natives of Montana, moved to Walla Walla in 1991. Saviah is a family name from Anita’s great-grandmother, a schoolteacher, artist and author, who settled in western Montana in the early 1900s. The family’s heritage is also reflected in their Star Meadows White Wine, named after the location of the original family homestead; the Une Vallée Red Wine inspired by the current family homestead called “One Valley”; and the Big Sky Cuvée in honor of their Montana roots."

Saviah's estate vineyards are a well-curated collection representing the breadth of the Walla Walla Valley AVA. A long-standing relationship with the Brown family (Watermill) supplies wines from the Anna Marie, McClellan Estate and Watermill Estate vineyards. Watermill (planted in 2005) and the Funk Estate vineyard (planted in 2007) are located in the Rocks District and principally grow Syrah with smaller blocks of Mourvèdre, Cabernet Franc, Malbec and Tempranillo. The most recent estate planting is the Dugger Creek Vineyard adjacent to the original Seven Hills site. It grows the Italian varieties as well as Grenache, Sangiovese, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc.

As I tasted through many of Saviah's current releases I was consistently impressed with the aromatics, structure, immediate appeal and ageability of virtually all of these wines. Clearly a veteran winemaker is at work here. Rich Funk knows his vineyards, he's tucked more than 20 vintages under his belt, he knows how to get the most out of each wine without excess, and there isn't a single wine in the entire lineup I wouldn't happily put front and center on my dinner table.

Saviah's sister brand is the value-oriented series called The Jack, which deserves its own writeup and will be featured at a later date. But check out the Value Wine for a preview!

Saviah Cellars Current Releases

Saviah 2021 Saviah Estate Vineyard Viognier

Picked at low brix and fermented in concrete egg, this is a high acid style that benefits from its lightness while avoiding fatness and bitterness. Savor the subtle elegance of the stone fruit, pineapple and citrus, highlighted with accents of white flowers. It pulls together with just the right lushness to the palate. It's clean, crisp, deep and detailed, and should age very well for up to a decade.

136 cases; 13.2%; $35  (Walla Walla)

Saviah 2021 Stillwater Creek Vineyard Chardonnay

Rich Funk describes the site as "about 1350 feet in elevation on sandy silt over caliche. It's one of those sites you pick, press, go to barrel, do a little lees stirring and that's it. About as Old World as you can get. Give this four or five years and you just want to sit there and smell the glass." Fair and apt, as the sharp-etched flavors mix stone fruits, white peaches, lemons, a streak of vanilla, hints of butter cookie and (dig for it) a suggestion of banana cream. The complex, refreshing minerality brings it all home. May be best in the mid-2020s.

208 cases; 13.5%; $35  (Columbia Valley)

Saviah 2019 Dugger Creek Vineyard Nebbiolo

Lovely to look at, this is close to Pinot Noir in color, and easily the best Washington state Nebbiolo I've ever tasted. Why? Because it captures the complex elegance of the grape, offering scents of roses amidst delicate layers of wild berries matched to firm, earthy tannins. The length is impressive, the extended finish trails out with touches of tobacco, licorice and tar, and the overall structure suggests that this is a wine to cellar for a decade or longer. Very limited to jump on it now. CW √

91 cases; 14.3%; $38  (Walla Walla)

Saviah 2020 Dugger Creek Vineyard Barbera

Vinified in neutral puncheons and barriques this is aromatic, soft and sexy. It pushes the plush factor right into the wine's core, loaded with softly accessible flavors of strawberry preserves, plum jam and prune fruits. They come swathed in lush milk chocolate that coats the mid-palate. Flavors linger generously as the wine glides on through the finish. Still delicious on day three. Surprise – Saviah is making the best Italian varietal wines in the state. VW

236 cases; 14.4%; $35  (Walla Walla)

https://www.saviahcellars.com/wine/classic/2020-barbera/

Saviah 2019 The Stones Speak Estate Tempranillo

There's 20% Syrah (presumably from this same Rocks District estate vineyard) in the blend. It's enough to strongly impact the scents and flavors, putting the stamp of terroir on the wine ahead of any varietal character. Don't take this as a criticism; that is not my intent. The stones do speak here, loud and clear, while the varietal flavors play a secondary role. This is a fine example of the AVA, with savory/umami/espresso/licorice/soy sauce flavors all blended into the whole palate.

118 cases; 14.1%; $55  (Walla Walla - Rocks District)

Saviah 2020 Malbec

Rich Funk captures the essence of Walla Walla Valley wines as well as anyone and better than most. This is sourced from three different vineyards, and opens with saturated with flavors of breakfast tea, blueberries, loganberries, cold coffee and charred wood. Aged 17 months in one quarter new Frenh oak, it's solid in the mid-palate and adds some herbal notes to the tannins that build in the finish. But after all is said and done, the deep flavors of purple berries rule.

194 cases; 14.5%; $35  (Walla Walla)

Saviah 2018 Petit Verdot

This is consistent with the overall style of Saviah's red wine lineup. It's sturdy, dense and balanced. Black fruits meet espresso and black tea tannins, crafting a lingering, ageworthy, mouth-coating wine. This is at the top end of ripeness for Saviah reds, which matches the varietal characteristics, and the tannins are ripe and polished, with highlights of graphite, granite and char. Aged 21 months in 60% new French oak, this is a big wine ready for a big steak.

148 cases; 14.6%; $45  (Walla Walla)

Saviah 2019 G.S.M.

This is 80% Grenache from the winery's Dugger Creek vineyard, with Syrah and Mourvèdre from Watermill making up the rest. It's a sturdy, stylish effort, with tight purple fruits compacted into a firm core. Aging 15 months in neutral French oak has taken some of the rough edges off the tannins, but decanting is a good idea for near-term drinking. Nicely accented with coffee, cocoa and licorice notes, this should be drunk over the next 6 - 8 years. (Sold Out)

298 cases; 14.6%; $40 (Walla Walla)

Saviah 2020 Syrah

Saviah has quietly accumulated a fine portfolio of estate vineyards scattered around the Walla Walla Valley, and many are part of this excellent blend. It's supremely drinkable, which is to say delicious despite its youth and balanced for immediate enjoyment. Plush with purple fruits, a streak of licorice, a sassy swatch of butterscotch and lifted with refreshing acids, this is one of those wines you won't be able to keep your hands off. WW

532 cases; 14.5%; $35 (Walla Walla)

Saviah 2020 The Stones Speak Estate Syrah

This is a high-density site just recently planted so the best years are yet to come. All the right pieces are in place for a clear evocation of Rocks District Syrah, but the wine does not yet show the power of older vines. As with all the Saviah Syrahs, it's made in a classic style, perfectly balanced, detailed with dusty tannins, dried herbs and streaks of anise and espresso. Very fine winemaking and a peek at a vineyard that will certainly be a superstar in the near future. WW

311 cases; 14.4%; $60 (Walla Walla - Rocks District)

Saviah 2020 Reserve Syrah

The best wine in a stunning lineup, this is built from top tier estate fruit from the Funk Estate, Stones Speak and Watermill vineyards. It gets the new barrel treatment (40%) and carries the additional imprint of the Rocks District where the vineyards are located. Intense, detailed, compact and expressive, it's loaded with brambly berries, savory herbs, licorice, espresso, dark chocolate, ash and even touches of lemon rind. What a glorious bottle it is, one that should continue to develop beautifully over the rest of the decade.

410 cases; 14.3%; $50 (Walla Walla)

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NOTE:  The wines I recommend have been tasted over many hours and days in peer groups and are selected for excellence. I have chosen to eliminate numerical scores from this website. Only recommended wines are shown, no negative reviews. My notes are posted immediately with links to the winery website, so you may purchase them directly from the producer before they are sold out. I take no commission, accept no advertising, and charge no fees for wines reviewed.

Coming next week:  Great Oregon Rhône Wines 

Heads Up:  Features coming later this fall include several single winery profiles; my pick of festive holiday bubblies and a re-cap of my favorite wines from the past year. Please send current and upcoming releases for these features as soon as possible; however there is no final deadline as I can and do post regular updates to past features. All new releases from Pacific Northwest wineries are welcome and will be tasted. California wineries please inquire before sending wines. As always only recommended wines will be published on this website.

Please contact me at paulgwine@me.com with your feedback and suggestions for future posts. Thank you for your support! – Paul Gregutt

The Power and Purpose of a Proper Wine Label

Over the years I've collected hundreds of books on wine. Most are completely out of date; a few were reference texts I've donated to the wine program at the community college. But those that remain on my bookshelves are each in their own way irreplaceable. Even in this digital world there are types of information held in long out-of-print books that cannot be found anywhere else. These historic records are valuable and often unique.

Forty years ago a fellow named Michel Logoz authored a lavishly-illustrated book called "Wine Label Design". Wine labels are of particular interest to me, as I've scrutinized many tens of thousands of them over the years. Logoz prefaces his book by noting that "thirty years ago a wine label was a mere ornament; nowadays it is also expected to seduce and to sell. Within its small paper rectangle, the label must not only be the interpreter of the wine it adorns, name with elegance and accuracy its appellation and original region, evoke local color, harmonize with the shape of the bottle, but also attract, impose a name or a trademark, an image, the signature of a grower or retailer."

This was written before labels had to include dire warnings about driving heavy machinery while pregnant, before the official recognition of hundreds of new AVAs and the proliferation of made-for-supermarket wines with dresses or trucks or shoes or butter as their main theme. So yes, things have changed and contemporary wine labels have stricter requirements. But the overall purpose of a wine label remains the same:  to attract, intrigue and inform.

Unsurprisingly, winery owners can get very sensitive about criticisms, particularly when a new label design has just been rolled out with accompanying fanfare. Owners may have a deep and personal connection to the design. They may have spent considerable dollars working with a professional designer; or they may have fallen in love with the kindergarten scribblings of a child and decided it was perfect for their Chardonnay. So most often when considering a label from an aesthetic point of view I've bitten my tongue (put the cap on my pen) and kept my opinion to myself.

Setting aesthetics aside let's turn our attention to something much easier to critique, much less emotional, and yet just as important as the label's graphic design... the text. What is this bottle saying to its customers in plain English?

The basic requirements (as per the TTB) are pretty darn basic. The law requires that bottles must be marked with a brand name, wine type, alcohol content (abv), bottle volume (standard is 750 ml), sulfite content and the producer's name and address. Vintage, grape variety and AVA – which almost always appear on labels – are surprisingly not a legal requirement. Yet such information is invaluable, and producers understand that wines lacking basic details will be filed in the "Mystery" section of the wine shop and likely to gather dust.

I occasionally encounter a wine bottle so overloaded with technical information that it requires a PhD in chemistry and a magnifying glass to decipher it. But I love it when wines tell you in clear language something about the grape sourcing and winemaking techniques. What vineyard(s) were used? What is the actual blend? (even those labeled as single varietal wines are often blends). What percentage (if any) of new oak was used? Is there any significant amount of residual sugar? This type of information, along with the mandatory and essential data mentioned above, can give you a pretty good idea of what to expect from a bottle you've never before tried. And yes – good graphic design offers one more clue about the wine's potential quality.

Where far too many labels veer off course is when they lapse into hyperbolic prose. Here are ten commonly used words and phrases that can be found on vast numbers of bottles, yet serve no useful purpose. Think of them as blinking warning lights and approach these wines cautiously.

• Handcrafted. This is redundant at best, because every wine is to some degree handcrafted. Let me know if you happen to come across a label proudly noting that the wine was “machine crafted”. 

• Reserve. This word (and such comparable phrases as “Barrel Select” and “Winemaker’s Selection”) implies quality but is unregulated. Any wine can be labeled as a reserve, which tells you nothing unless there is a meaningful basis for comparison. If you know the winery or producer and they in fact have other wines from the same vintage and grape(s) that are not labeled reserve then there's a real chance that their reserve is significant. But that requires some prior experience. And finally, consider price. Wines priced under $15 and labeled as selections, reserves, etc. almost never merit such accolades.

• Noble. You will see this adjective tacked on to descriptions of grape sources. There are two main problems here. First, the word has a high falutin' connotation that plays into the notion that winespeak is boring and pretentious. And second, though a handful of grape varieties such as Riesling and Cabernet Sauvignon may be broadly categorized as noble, that does not translate into specific fruit from any particular vineyard. Your neighbor's grapes may be good, even excellent, but they are not noble.

• Bold. Tasting notes all too often insert bold flavors into the descriptors. This is taken to mean that it's a potently massive wine. But is that necessarily good? All too many bold wines are high in alcohol, aggressively tannic, blatantly oaky and short-lived.

• Finest. All superlatives – finest, the best, specially selected and so on – just reflect the opinion of the person making or selling the wine. You may have quite a different opinion when you taste it.

• World-class. Another undefined, unregulated opinion.

• Award-winning. This one really rankles me. There are hundreds of wine competitions, and some wineries put all their marketing dollars into entering them, knowing that if they enter enough wines in enough places they will bring home some medals. It’s standard practice for organizers to instruct the judges to award a high percentage of gold medals. So when you walk into a tasting room with walls covered with medals from myriad competitions it rarely guarantees quality. 

• Dream. The aspirational side of the wine business leads many family-owned wineries to write about their dream of making wine. That may be true, but says nothing about the quality of the wine. And their dream has nothing to do with your dream, which most likely involves getting a decent bottle at a decent price.

• Passion. Much like pursuing a dream, being passionate about starting a winery is a personal decision. Any story about the pursuit of passion is best put on a website. Wineries – your customer is not passionate about your dream!

• Terrior. Misspellings of terroir are unbelievably common. This is not only sloppy, it’s borderline pretentious and quite honestly just makes everyone involved in the writing, design and label approval (hello TTB) look careless at best. If a label intends to inform a potential customer about a specific terroir it can start by spelling it correctly.

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New Releases From Sineann

This past week I tasted just-released 2021 red wines from Sineann. I've reviewed and written about these wines for many years, and never had a better lineup. The number of wines and case quantities are less than in the past, but every one of these wines is highly recommended, and two are featured wines of the week. I've linked to the website for ordering information. They are not specifically listed there but I am assured that except for the Daffodil Hill Pinot which is already gone they may be ordered now. Don't wait!

Sineann 2021 Oregon Pinot Noir

Though labeled simply "Oregon" this is actually all Willamette Valley Pinot from choice vineyards in the Yamhill-Carlton and Eola-Amity Hills AVAs. This is truly delicious, loaded with a juicy mix of raspberries, tangerines and chocolate-covered cherries. The acids are fresh and refreshing, and the jumble of tangy fruit flavors carries on through a clean, clear and lingering finish.

343 cases; 13.4%; $30 (Oregon)

Sineann 2021 Daffodil Hill Pinot Noir

Immediately appealing, this features ripe cherry fruit framed with cherry pit accents, light suggestions of dried tobacco and firm, polished tannins. For such a young wine it's in perfect proportion and balance, and provides a showcase for fruit barely a year past harvest. Very few young Pinots show this well, but winemaker Peter Rosback has been releasing his wines early for many years and knows how to make it work. Drink now and through the rest of the decade.

48 cases; 13.6%; $36 (Eola-Amity Hills)

Sineann 2021 Yates Conwill Vineyard Pinot Noir 

Long a standout for Sineann, this new vintage of this designate is as good as any in its history. It's supple, powerful, muscular and dense. In short, it's ageworthy Willamette Valley Pinot Noir at a value price. A mix of tart red berries, it skirts along the edges of preserves or pie fruits but stays firm and fresh. It gains focus in the finish, suggesting that it's the rare wine that can be enjoyed immediately at such a young age, or tucked away for a decade or longer.

100 cases; 14.4%; $42 (Yamhill-Carlton)

Sineann 2021 TFL Pinot Noir

Though not labeled as such this is a Yates Conwill vineyard reserve. It's bottled in 375ml (half size bottles), which means you can taste a rare reserve level wine at a budget price. The regular Yates Conwill release is so good that I struggle to find a real difference here. This is a couple of percentages more concentrated, and certainly has the same ageability. Both are marvelous expressions of Willamette Valley Pinot Noir from a superb vintage.

100 cases; 14.2%$30/375ml (Willamette Valley)

Sineann 2021 Abondante Red

The blend changes significantly from vintage to vintage; this year it is essentially a 50/50 Zinfandel/Merlot blend from vineyards on the Oregon side of the Columbia Valley. It's a well made wine showing ripe and fresh flavors of berries and cherries. There's even a hint of milk chocolate, suggesting some exposure to French oak, and unlike all too many wines in this price tier it is unmanipulated, ripe and absolutely fresh.

500 cases; 14.8%; $20 (Columbia Valley)

Sineann 2021 Old Vine Zinfandel

I've tasted Peter Rosback's Old Vine Zins for many years and this is one of the very best. It's tannic, rich, dark and dense. The cassis, black fruits, espresso beans, black licorice and dark chocolate flavors all coalesce in a deep core that extends on through a long finish. The overall balance in such a young wine is especially impressive. All in all these 2021 releases from Sineann are superb.

225 cases; 14.8%; $39 (Columbia Valley OR)

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NOTE:  The wines I recommend have been tasted over many hours and days in peer groups and are selected for excellence. I have chosen to eliminate numerical scores from this website. Only recommended wines are shown, no negative reviews. My notes are posted immediately with links to the winery website, so you may purchase them directly from the producer before they are sold out. I take no commission, accept no advertising, and charge no fees for wines reviewed.

Coming next week:  Hearty autumn reds and a chat with Rich Funk of Saviah

Heads Up:  Features coming later this fall include several single winery profiles; my pick of festive holiday bubblies and a re-cap of my favorite wines from the past year. Please send current and upcoming releases for these features as soon as possible; however there is no final deadline as I can and do post regular updates to past features. All new releases from Pacific Northwest wineries are welcome and will be tasted. California wineries please inquire before sending wines. As always only recommended wines will be published on this website.

Please contact me at paulgwine@me.com with your feedback and suggestions for future posts. Thank you for your support!